Water-wheel



A. B. FRAME.

WATER. WHEEL.

(No Model.)

Patented June 13, 1893.

INVENTOH WITNESSES.

ATTORNEYS.

1H: uonms PETERS co.. Puma-Luna. WASHKNGTON. o. c"

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASA B. FRAME, OF BOYDEN, IOWA.

WATER-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,533, dated June 13, 1893.

Application filed November 25, 1892. Serial No,453,072. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ASA B. FRAME, of Boy- 7 den, in the county of Sioux and State of Iowa,

have invented a new and Improved \Vater- Wheel, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in water wheels, and the object of my invention is to produce a simple form of wheel adaptedfor use in a flume, and constructed and arranged to operate so that the water which passes through the flume will twice exert its force on the wheel, and thus cause a very large percentage of the energy of the water to be utilized in the direct transmission of power.

To this end, myinvention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and,

claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the wheel embodying my invention, showing it in position in a fiume. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a broken, enlarged, detail sectional View, showing particularly the manner in which the blades or paddles are hung and operated.

The wheel is provided with circular end pieces 10, carried bya shaft 11, and the latter is journaled in bearings 12 in opposite sides of the flume 13 and has a pulley 14 from which power is transmitted. Arranged circumferentially around the wheel and extending across its face, are blades or paddles 15, which are placed at equal distances apart, and each of which is pivoted between the end pieces 10, the blade or paddle being hung at one edge, as shown best at 16 in Fig. 2. Each blade connects by means of a rod 17, which is arranged preferably near the center of the blade, with a ring 20, which is hung loosely on the shaft 11, and is of much larger diameter than the diameter of the shaft, the rod being pivoted at its outer end to the free edge of the blade, and being also pivoted at its inner end, as shown at 18, between lugs 19 on the periphery of the ring 20. Any desired number of these rings may be used, according to the size of the wheel, and there is an independent rod connecting the ring with each paddle.

The position of the wheel in the flume and of the several paddles of the wheel is best shown in Fig. 1. It will be noticed by reference to said figure, that as the ring 20 hangs or rests, by gravity on the shaft 11, the position or inclination of each paddle wheel changes with its relation to the center shaft 11, and consequently each paddle is first brought into a nearly horizontal position so as to receive the full force of the water which descends through the flume, is then tilted into a nearly vertical position so as to pass readily through the water, is again shifted into a horizontal position so as to receive the force of the water a second time, and is finally thrown back again into a nearly vertical position so as to pass easily up against the current of the water.

By reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that when a paddle reaches the point marked A, it will be in a nearly horizontal position so that the full force of the water is exerted upon it, and the wheel is caused to turn and another paddle is brought into position, while the first paddle as it passes downward is pushed or swung into a nearly vertical position, owing to the change of position of its inner rod 17 withrelation to the shaft 11, until the paddle passes downward to the point A, when the rod 17 pushes or swings the free edge of the paddle still farther outward, thus bringing it a second time into a nearly horizontal position, and consequentiy the water acts a second time upon it so as to increase the power of the wheel. As the Wheel continues to turn, the paddle is swung still farther downward until it begins to ascend the back side of the wheel when it is gradually drawn inward and finally thrown again into operative position at A.

Each paddle has the movement described, and each is consequently twice acted upon by the water at every revolution of the wheel. As a result, the wheel generates a great deal of power, and it will be noticed by reference to the drawings that it is of extremely simple construction and therefore little likely to get out of repair.

ICO

pieces, a gravity ring hung loosely on the [0 shaft, and rods pivoted to the free edges of the paddles and to the periphery of the ring, substantially as described.

ASA B. FRAME.

WVitnesses ALBERT SMEEUK, MARTIN B. BENNETT. 

